State securities regulators and industry groups positively received news of the House passage of SeniorSafe Act, H.R. 4538, a bill that seeks to provide civil and administrative immunity to financial firms and advisors when they report potential financial abuse to government organizations.
Think Advisor has the industry reaction:
The North American Securities Administrators Association applauded the bill’s passage early Wednesday, noting that state securities regulators look forward to “working closely” with Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, and other members of the Senate to secure its passage.
Dale Brown, president and CEO of the Financial Services Institute, added that FSI is now working to gain co-sponsors for the Senate version of the bill and is “hopeful” that the Senate will quickly follow suit…
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NASAA president Judith Shaw added in the statement that “senior financial exploitation is a critical policy challenge,” noting that the SeniorSafe Act “will remove barriers that have frustrated efforts to report suspected cases of senior financial exploitation, and provide new tools to help financial services professionals recognize and report such exploitation to state securities regulators and other appropriate governmental authorities.”
Ken Bentsen, president and CEO of the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association, noted that the legislation will allow firms “to disclose cases of potential senior financial exploitation without the fear of legal ramifications,” adding that “this type of legislation, paired with collaboration within the industry and beyond, allows us to tackle elder financial abuse head-on to better protect the investments of aging Americans.”
Pending Senate approval, the bill will cover banks, credit unions, investment advisors, broker-dealers, insurance companies and certain supervisory, compliance and legal employees that have been trained to identify and report predatory activity and possible exploitation of senior citizens.
